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Fifty radio and television reporters are receiving training on HIV/AIDS and the techniques of educating the population in the Central African Republic (CAR).
They are members of a journalists' network - Reseau des Communicateurs de Lutte contre le Sida - which campaigns against the disease.
The seminar, which began on Tuesday and will end on Saturday, is financially supported by the UN Development Programme. "As a network of journalists, we feel it is our duty to take action against HIV/AIDS both in urban and rural areas," Rene Madeka, a reporter for Radio Notre Dame and secretary general of the journalists' network, told PlusNews.
Madeka said the seminar aims at informing the journalists about HIV/AIDS so that they can better educate the population using their media. "The CNLS (Comite National de Lutte contre le Sida) has provided HIV/AIDS experts to train us," he added.
Apart from the state-owned Radio Centrafrique and Television Centrafrique, CAR has three private radios - Radio Notre Dame owned by the Catholic Church, Radio Nehemie of the Protestant Churches and Radio Ndeke Luka of Fondation Hirondelle.
According to a UNAIDS report produced in June 2002, 12 percent of the CAR population are HIV positive, making it the most affected nation in the sub-region and the 10th most affected in the world.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions